Adachi pension measure workers caught warning of “nighttime meters”

Opponents of Public Defender Jeff Adachi’s pension reform ballot measure today threatened legal action after revealing an undercover video that shows four signature gatherers for Adachi’s measure soliciting signatures while making misleading statements about the proposal — including that it’s needed to fend off nighttime parking meters.

“Jeff Adachi is breaking the law by using these unethical signature gatherers,” said Nathan Ballard, a Democratic strategist working for public labor unions opposed to Adachi’s measure. “Adachi’s signatures were collected under false pretenses. His signature gatherers were running around telling flat-out lies in order to get signatures, and we have the video tapes to prove it.”

One signature gatherer, who appears to be outside the Castro’s Safeway store on Market Street, says the measure is about “nighttime parking,” and that the city has “already started” to put in “nighttime meters.”

“If you don’t want nighttime parking meters all over the city, then you have to (sign this),” the man says on the hidden camera video shot by a member of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers Local 21, which is backing a rival pension reform proposal drawn up by Mayor Ed Lee with labor unions and others. You can watch the whole video here:

Another signature gatherer contends the measure is about “better retirement benefits” for city workers, even though it will actually make those employees contribute substantially more to their pensions and is vehemently opposed by public employee unions.

One said that “pretty much” all Adachi’s measure would do is cap employee pensions at $140,000, even though the measure would require substantially higher pension contributions from workers than the current 7.5 percent most city employees pay, hiking that to up to 15.5 percent in very bad economic years for workers making between $150,000 and $200,000.

A fourth signature gatherer on the video says city employees making over $50,000 aren’t paying into their pension currently, only “meter maids” and lower-paid workers are.

“The guys over $50,000 are not paying,” the signature gatherer says. “It’s coming out of our pocket.”

While some city employees — elected officials like Adachi, the mayor and the Board of Supervisors — didn’t contribute to their pensions until earlier this month, other highly paid workers have done so for years, including police officers and firefighters. Adachi’s measure would also require the city’s lowest paid workers to contribute more toward their pension than the mayor’s proposal calls for.

Adachi acknowledged that in the video there were “some inaccuracies, as well as accurate statements, as well as incomplete statements that were made.”

But the video only showed four people out of more than 300 paid and volunteer signature gatherers his campaign used to collect 72,640 signatures, Adachi said.

“Maybe not all of the 300 were able to explain the pension proposal in detail,” Adachi said. “That’s why on every page where a person is asked to sign there is a summary and title which clearly states what it is.”

Ballard said the video demonstrates “two possibilities: Adachi either told his signature gathers to lie, or he has exercised such poor management of his campaign that he is allowing his signature gatherers to lie.”

“He’s offering this videotape that shows this person asking questions, not signing a petition,” Adachi said. “We had over 300 signature gatherers, and there were only four people in the video.”

Adachi’s measure, which would amend the city charter, needs 46,559 valid signatures to make it onto the November ballot.

The coalition of public employee unions that is supporting the mayor’s rival proposal is considering legal action and calling on Adachi to audit and remove suspect signatures from the more than 72,000 the campaign turned in to city’s Department of Elections by Monday’s deadline, Ballard said.

“Think about that. How would I begin to do that? I mean seriously,” Adachi countered. “The fact is our measure is going to be on the November ballot, and there’s nothing they can do about it but debate it on the merits.”